Residents of North Sophia are calling on city authorities to address the wanton disposal of garbage on their main road, which they say disrupts their everyday lives and is also a hindrance to vehicles traveling through the community.
When this newspaper visited the community on Friday, a small section of the parapet of the main access road, which is several feet from the St Stanislaus College’s farm, was dotted with garbage consisting of old home appliances and other household items, zinc sheets, and dried plants, among other items.
The residents, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, that the indiscriminate dumping of refuse is often carried out by horse cart owners.
“They have two of them that does work on the horse cart and get jobs to transport things, whether it’s old or new, and they usually just dump all of them right there and it’s affecting all of us in the community. What you’re seeing today is little because it is usually way more than that,” one resident explained.
Another pointed out that often the garbage pile extends from the parapet to the road, which prevents vehicles from traversing the road properly.
“Sometimes when you coming in the street at nights, you see an old stove or TV or fridge on the road and it prevents you from driving properly. Sometimes animals would go in the heap of garbage and eventually everything end up on the road. Buses rarely come in here so you have to walk out to the main road and there’s often a very big stench coming from the area,” another resident claimed.
They explained that the dumping has been happening for months and attempts to speak to the offenders were futile.
Consequently, the residents are calling on the authorities including the Mayor and City Council and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address the issue.
“We know it’s not as serious as other issues around the city and around the country but it’s affecting us negatively and it’s not that hard to rectify. During the nights when people have to walk on the road to get to their homes, they always have to be wondering about that spot and if there are thieves hiding there because sometimes the build-up is so large. It’s also contributing to breeding mosquitoes which affecting everyone. We just want the EPA come and investigate or somebody and apply the necessary consequences,” a resident said.
“It’s not like it’s everyone doing it. Just a few persons so the issue can be fixed relatively easy. And it’s not like it has been going on forever, it only started happening several months ago but it has become a very bad habit that’s affecting a lot of people,” the resident added.
